Whether or not an organization will fully benefit from diversity depends on how its members answer the questions, “What do we do with this diversity? Why do we want a diversified workforce?” Organizations must explicitly address these questions if they are to prevent diversity efforts from backfiring and if they are to reap the oft-touted benefits of better performance and productivity. Three organizational diversity paradigms are presented along with the assumptions and practices, pros, and cons of each.

Employees report that the supervisory relationship is one of the most significant factors in their decision to leave or stay with an organization. Are you, as a supervisor, adequately prepared for this responsibility?

Even if your institution already has a formal training program for supervisors, use Supervising-in-a-Box to create highly productive teams that reduce employee turnover, capitalize on diverse innovative thinking, and ultimately strengthen their bottom lines.

Are you interested in getting more girls involved in your computing competition? This Top 10 resource offers simple suggestions to make your competition appeal to a wider range of participants. Taking these steps will benefit all students and help make your event a success.

Roadshow-in-a-Box is a complete set of resources developed for colleges and universities wanting to establish or enhance their roadshow outreach programs. It draws on the wisdom and practices of a variety of successful roadshow programs that focus on recruiting for diversity and put trained student presenters in a leading role. The Box includes program advice, templates, and sample materials to aid your efforts in every aspect of a sustainable roadshow program. Components include: Controlled Message, Support, Ongoing School Partnerships, Trained Student Presenters, Program Activities, and Evaluation and Tracking.

Engage students not already drawn to computing by creating academic and social environments where these students feel like they belong. Students respond positively to solving real-life problems that draw on their existing knowledge and interests and that involve collaboration in hands-on projects. Globaloria is the country’s largest social learning network of schools and community centers using a game design curriculum to develop students’ digital literacies, computing knowledge, and global citizenship skills.

A program to strengthen and diversify the IT pipeline though outreach to middle schools. Using the box, IT professionals customize and deliver a classroom presentation and engage youth in hands-on activities that inspire and inform them about opportunities in IT.

Collaborative learning can improve retention rates, critical thinking, appreciation of diversity, and development of social and professional skills. When implementing collaborative learning, match students roughly according to experience levels and make sure to give students opportunities to work together for both graded and un-graded assignments. Peer-led team learning in computer science allows students to work together with a classmate or more advanced peer directing group exercises and discussion. Courses that have utilized PLTL boast lower course drop rates and higher grades.

Significant evidence suggests that diverse work teams produce tangible benefits, including improved innovation, problem-solving, and productivity. Some of this research also illustrates how teams of diverse agents produce better results than teams of “highest-ability” agents. Companies can implement interview strategies that identify candidates with functionally diverse perspectives likely to improve innovation and productivity.

Technical women face challenges, from institutionalized bias to differences in communication styles to a lack of female role models. Developed in collaboration with the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, Mentoring-in-a-Box: Technical Women at Workhelps women excel in the technical professions and advance to positions of leadership.